Bone degradation at five Arctic archaeological sites: Quantifying the importance of burial environment and bone characteristics

摘要

The degradation of archaeological bones is influenced by many variables. The bone material itself is a composite of both organic and inorganic components, and their degradation depends on processes occurring both before and after burial, and on both intrinsic bone characteristics as well as extrinsic environmental parameters. In this study we attempt to quantify the effect of some of the variables using a novel approach that includes detailed monitoring of the burial environment combined with respirometry studies of bone material from five archaeological sites in West Greenland. First, we compare the state of preservation of excavated bone material with the current burial environment including the soil pH, thawing degree days, soil porosity and soil moisture. Secondly, we investigate oxic degradation of collected bone samples through respirometry and quantify the effects of temperature and moisture on the oxidation rate of individual bones. Finally, we discuss how the oxidation rate is influenced by intrinsic bone parameters. Some of the main conclusions are: